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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

How to Make a Messy Bun

I’ve spent years twisting my hair up into tight chignons. A small, hard knot of hair is ideal for ballet and combat, but, for less strenuous activities, I prefer a looser, softer look. I also like my buns BIG. Unless you have extremely thick or long hair, the traditional, twisted bun doesn’t create a lot of volume. After studying others’ poufy, messy buns, I’ve come up with the following technique.

1. Start with a ponytail. I prefer an elastic that matches my hair color.

2. Tip your head forward until your ponytail is perpendicular to the ground. Fan the ponytail so that an equal amount of hair is spread in every direction. (I call this step the “hair fountain.”)

3. Cup the center of the “fountain” with one hand, and use the other hand to swirl the ends around the center. You can switch hands if necessary. I swirl clock-wise.

4. Continue swirling until the ends have tucked under the roll. The bun should be loose and barely contained within your hand.

5. Pin the edges to secure. (More on the pinning technique below.)

6. If desired, tease the roll for more volume.

The 90-second, bare-bones, no-makeup, no-narration video version:

Pinning Technique:

The pinning technique is key to maintaining your roll.

1. Position the pin perpendicular to your head, catching the roll with one half of the pin. The pin should penetrate the roll and the hair beneath, just touching your scalp.

2. In place, rotate the pin so that the ends are pointing towards the roll. This twisting motion prevents the pin from slipping out. The tip of the pin (on the side away from the roll), should drag against your scalp. (But don’t hurt yourself!)

3. Slide the pin the rest of the way into the roll.

I’ve used hairpins in this example, but you can also use bobby pins. If using a bobby pin, spread the tips slightly before you start. Catch the roll with the longer tip, rotate, and insert.

Modifications:

Short hair. If you have shoulder-length or shorter hair, you can use a dounut shaped hair rat to create the volume you need to make this bun. Just slip the rat over your ponytail, before the "hair fountain" step.

Side bun. For the Big Messy Side Bun, start with a pony tail 3 – 4 inches behind one ear. You’ll need to leave space between the ear and the ponytail to accommodate the bun’s width…unless you’re going for a Princess Leia look. To make the “hair fountain,” you’ll be tipping your head to the opposite side, rather than nose to the ground.

I'll speak in the next video. This was my first use of a video camera since highschool, and I was more worried about lighting and getting the bun right than speaking!

Londyn - google it, you'll see. It's basically a "filling" you use inside hairstyles to give your hair more volume. You can make your own by cutting the toes off of a sock and rolling the resulting tube into a doughnut shape.

Thanks for this post! I am hair-styling challenged and have been looking for something more professional than a ponytail now that I have no time in the morning (thanks to a 6 month old daughter :) -- I did this in about 2 minutes and love it. Can you do more posts for up-hair styles? :)

Thank you for info on how to do a messy bun...my buns (that just sounds funny) always tend to look too formal with every hair in place and it has the effect of making me look like a mean uptight librarian!

I only recently started reading your blog and I love it! I love to see others wearing bright colors but never have had the courage, but because of your blog I have ventured out into the world of COLOR! I also really loved the other hair how to on how to do a french twist...never could do till reading your blog!

Hey guys, this works even better if you do it with a sock, I'll tell you what I mean: if you cut off the toe of a sock and roll it into a bun, then slip it over your ponytail, then make a "hair fountain" as she calls it, then just follow the rest of the directions...

THANK YOU SO MUCH. It sounds silly, but I always looked at the buns that others make and thought, "What is this sorcery?" I've never been able to make a more voluminous, messy bun, but I succeeded for the first time today :) Also, thank you for ACTUALLY explaining how to pin a bun, because every hair video I have watched never truly explains it well.